


And They Were Roommates

by NymphadoraTheTemplar



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Don't copy to another site, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, Multi, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-06-25 04:07:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19737991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NymphadoraTheTemplar/pseuds/NymphadoraTheTemplar
Summary: Random moments that all take place in the world of my college AU.They’re basically all dating each other without the snogging & sex because I’m an ace that likes to project her love for soft & romantic things without the amorous aspect, on her favourite characters.Therefore each chapter usually leans more towards one relationship.First chapter explains the AU & contains a table of contents of sorts.The status will be marked complete as I am leaving what I’ve written as is and do not promise more content but will simply add chapters if I come up with more scenes





	1. About / Contents

¾ College Roommates AU  
Somewhat canon divergent. Movies didn't happen. Conan and KID happened. They both took down their respective gang baddies. No longer needed, Conan and KID bid the world farewell.

Shinichi and Heiji were looking for a couple of people to room with, they knew Saguru who brought his good friend Kaito  
Thus the gosho boys end up living together in a 4 person apartment that consists of a main living/open kitchen room, coat/storage closet, two bathrooms, two bedrooms each with a walk in closet, and laundry room. Shinichi and Heiji share one bedroom while Saguru and Kaito share the other (all have separate beds fyi)

Kaito and Shinichi haven't figured out each other's alter egos, because there hasn't really been a need or want to. But if for some reason they decide to put some thought into it, would put two and two together. For now they're simply roommates.  
Kaito eventually admitted to Saguru about being KID and why, so Saguru helped look out for him and assisted in getting Snake's gang arrested. Like Shinichi and Heiji, Kaito and Saguru are the best of friends.

Most of the weird stuff Kaito is found doing is the crap my roommates had to deal with

One can tell I added a dose of my personal headcanons

such as:

  * I like nicknames and thus  
>Shinichi and Heiji sometimes call each other Seiryuu (legendary blue/green dragon of the east) and Byakko (legendary white tiger of the west) respectively. Based on the legends of the great four beasts/symbols that represent the four cardinal directions and seasons.  
>Kaito and Saguru teasingly call each other Kuro-san (Mr.Black) and Haku-san (Mr.White) respectively
  * Shinichi loves iced coffee but when it comes to hot beverages, prefers tea



Contents

"Horror" || word count: 817 || Kudou & Kuroba || domestic & humour

Laundry || word count: 512 || Kudou & Kuroba || fluff

Nightmare || word count: 848 || Hakuba & Kuroba (bonus scene Hattori) || angst & comfort (bonus humour)

Picture Perfect Pose || word count: 651 || Kudou & Kuroba || humour

Another Nightmare || word count: 2631 || Kuroba & Kudou, Kuroba & Hakuba || angst & comfort

A Punny Moment || word count: 168 || KID & Conan || humour

WIP = work in progress = mostly written and nearly ready to be released into the wilds


	2. "Horror"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> word count: 817 || Kudou & Kuroba || domestic & humour

Shinichi was best friends with Hattori and quickly hit it off with Hakuba, due to their mutual love of Holmes and discussing their styles of investigation.   
But Kuroba kept a distance. He was friendly enough in meeting Shinichi and greeting him when they passed each other. But he never really got the chance to talk to Kuroba. It almost seemed like he was avoiding him.

No need to be jumping to conclusions, they were both busy people, he's an eccentric magician usually working on his next trick, while Shinichi is a popular detective typically busy with cases.  
Their passions on top of college classes kept them fairly busy. It's not that odd that they're hardly in the apartment, let alone at the same time. Besides, Kuroba was Hakuba's good friend and Shinichi was fairly certain the fellow Holmes enthusiast was a good judge of character.

But at the same time, perhaps this assumption wasn't that unfounded. It was a given that Hakuba knew him, but even Hattori had a chance to talk to him and hit it off well. "He's an amusing guy and puts up a decent fight in kendou" his best friend commented the first week after meeting Kuroba.  
Then there's that odd feeling he gets, similar to when around criminals, Hattori calls it his case antenna activating, when around Kuroba, but different. It's not as serious as a dangerous intent to harm, but still odd enough to make him cautious. And being cautious around Kuroba was the wise thing to do if Hakuba's anecdotes of highschool days were anything to go by.

And yet there was still something about the feeling he couldn't quite place. 

It actually reminded him of KID from his time as Conan.

What was the thief up to now? KID had vanished into the night once again, likely for good this time, a couple of months after Shinichi had made sure the Black Organisation were in prison and had gotten his proper age back permanently. Shinichi idly wondered if he was doing well. It's not like the Phantom Thief caused any harm aside from some pride and property damage of rich corporates and shady people. Along with some disruption of the peace, which hardly anyone minded. In fact the average populace's reaction would indicate Kaitou KID heists were actually a spectacular performance rather than a disturbance, which in a sense were indeed.

Shinichi put aside his wonderings to return to the book he held. For the first time since this semester started, he finally had a weekend free to properly rest and relax. With Hattori visiting Kazuha-san back in Osaka and Hakuba in London for the weekend, Shinichi would basically have the place to himself. He could sleep in without a care and read a few mystery books, old favourites and new releases, while enjoying some warm tea.   
So it was rather a surprise to find out that Kuroba had similar plans.

Shinichi was currently relaxed on the couch in the main room, reading a new mystery and sipping the rather delicious tea that Kuroba had brewed. The magician, who was apparently also a bit of a chef, was quietly humming while cooking a delicious smelling brunch in the kitchen half of the main living space.

Suddenly Kuroba ceased his quiet humming to say in a light hearted tone, "Say Kudou, it's a bit funny. I would normally be a little nervous about being alone all weekend with the one roommate I haven't been able to really talk to and get to know. I'd wonder about them turning out to be a monster like some horror movie. But this actually feels rather domestic"

Shinichi glanced up from his book to reply with an amused smile, "Well I can assure you that the only reason you'd have to fear me is if you were a murderer trying to evade justice. Glad you can relax around me, I feel similar."  
He returned his eyes to the mystery.  
It wasn't a total lie, he did feel similar, but not the same. He still felt a little cautious around Kuroba.   
"Well the truth is, I don't feel nervous at all because..." suddenly Kuroba was standing beside the couch, continuing in a serious tone, "I am that monster"  
Shinichi quickly looked up in surprise to see a wicked grin on Kuroba's face that quickly morphed into a gleeful laugh, “It's a joke, a joke, you should get a load of your face"   
He held out another mug of tea, making the empty one beside Shinichi vanish, "Here's another cup, I noticed you ran out" then jauntily made his way back to the kitchen.

Kuroba paused to look back at Shinichi before resuming his cooking, "Although I must say, in case Haku-san hasn't already warned you, I may not be an actual monster but I can be a bit heart racing" he added with a wink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 「 Why is Kai avoiding Shin tho if he doesn't know Shin and Cone are one? 」  
> since Kaito doesn't know Shinichi and Conan are the same, as far as he knows, Shinichi is just the famous detective of the east who he's only heard about in the papers/on tv. he has no idea what the real Shinichi is like so he's cautious about the detective figuring out who he was and has no idea of Shinichi's opinion on turning in an internationally wanted criminal (especially considering the rumours of Shin's big part in getting an entire criminal organisation arrested)


	3. Laundry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> word count: 512 || Kudou & Kuroba || fluff

Shinichi had been caught without an umbrella in a light shower on his way back to the apartment. After setting his bag down in his bedroom, he shed the now wet shirt, donning a fresh one.   
He was still planning on wearing his now wet shirt for his presentation in about forty minutes. It sounded like the washer was currently in use but the dryer was quiet, free for him to use. Noticing someone must have forgotten the light, with the bit that shined through the crack at the bottom, Shinichi slid open the door to the closet built into one wall of the hallway that was just big enough to house the washer and dryer.   
  
He can’t say he expected to find Kuroba sitting on top of the washer.   
The head of wild hair looked up from the biology textbook he was reading, “Yo Kudou.”  
“Kuroba, what are you doing on top of the washer?”  
“The bed sheets I’m washing tend to bunch to one side during the spin cycle, causing it to become unbalanced and shake the entire washer. Sitting on it helps and I’m right here to fix it if it does happen”  
Ah. That made sense. Probably.   
Shinichi didn’t bother mentioning the fact that he could see Kuroba’s bed sheets, already clean and neatly tucked on his bed, from the open doorway across the hall. It might have been an extra set of sheets.    
Or maybe it was something else and the magician just didn’t feel comfortable revealing it.    
Well it wasn’t his business, as far as the detective could deduce, Kuroba was a good person and that was good enough for him. Just one more mystery about Kuroba Kaito.

Shinichi resumed his task of placing the wet shirt into the dryer and setting the timer. While doing so, the mysterious man had grabbed a clean towel, from where they were stored on the built in shelf just behind his head, which he dropped on the head of still wet hair. Before Shinichi could grab it to dry his hair, gentle hands started massaging his head.  
“Oi I can dry my own hair, I’m not a child” despite the complaint he didn’t attempt to remove the warm hands.  
“Hmm really?” a playful smile appeared, “I thought adults were supposed to know better than to walk in the rain without an umbrella”  
“It was an unexpected shower, I specialize in forensics not meteorology”  
A light hum of acknowledgement, “So even the great detective of the east has his flaws.”   
Said detective shot the man atop the washer an annoyed look, “Idiot, of course I do, I am still human after all,” he brought up his hands to air quote, “unlike a certain “monster” I know.”  
This received a bright laugh just as warm as the hands, in reply, then with a small flourish, Kuroba dropped the towel into the laundry basket between the machines, “There we go~ All dry!” He ruffled Shinichi’s now fluffy hair for good measure and returned his focus to the textbook sitting on his lap.


	4. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> word count: 848 || Hakuba & Kuroba (bonus scene with Hattori) || angst & comfort (bonus humour)

Saguru woke up with the feeling that something was wrong. When you’ve been a detective that deals with the occasional homicide and one Kuroba Kaito, for as long as he has, it’s a beneficial sense to have. He quickly began to understand what was wrong when he heard the ragged breathing of his roommate coming from the bed on the other side of their bedroom. In the dim glow of the street light outside the apartment that shone through the curtains of the window, Saguru could make out Kuroba sitting up with his fists curled up in his sheets. The detective slowly sat up as dark blue eyes, that seemed to glow with the way they reflected the light, turned towards him. 

That damned poker face smile appeared, wiping away that stricken look of fear as Kuroba attempted to steady his breathing. Saguru’s worry was joined by a small spike of anger. Even after becoming close friends, Kuroba’s first response was still to hide his pain. Well it's not like Saguru couldn't understand why, but it still hurt.

So as he usually did when Kuroba had a nightmare, the blond simply slipped out of his bed to sit next to the brunet. “Kuroba, do you wish to talk about it?”  
Only the sound of much steadier breathing.  
“It’s alright if you don't, I just thought it might help.” Sometimes he would talk about his nightmares and sometimes he just needed someone to be next to so that he could calm down.  
Laying down on his back next to Kuroba, he pat the empty space by his head, “Come on, I’ll wait with you until you fall asleep.”  
Saguru received a blank stare before he was joined.  
A few moments of tense silence. Then the magician’s hands slowly released their grip on the sheets, “It was another nightmare,” Kuroba’s quiet words broke the silence, “I saw the night dad died and I heard that bastard’s laugh.”  
Grabbing the shaking hand, Saguru gave it a comforting squeeze.  
“But this time the nightmare didn't end there, Snake started to kill everyone.” Kuroba drew in a shaky breath, “Mom, Aoko, Inspector Nakamori, Jii-chan.You.”  
The hand had thankfully stopped shaking and turned around in the hold to squeeze back.  
“Not to worry, I can assure you that those scum are all locked away in prison. We saw to it ourselves. Not to mention none of us plan on performing an escape trick any time soon. We’ll leave that up to our favourite magician.”  
“I know, I don't need to be told that.”  
“But it's still nice to hear others affirm it.”  
Saguru could feel Kuroba take a deep breath and exhale slowly, “You're right Hakuba. As usual.”  
A small chuckle from the detective, “Of course Kuro-san, you do know how much I enjoy it.”  
This managed to get a chuckle in reply, “Right, of course. What else did I expect from Haku-san.”

A more peaceful moment of silence, Saguru thought Kuroba may have slipped back into sleep and started to do so himself.

“It did help, I feel better.”  
He turned on his side to face the brit with a small and genuine smile, causing the blond head to turn towards him in attention.

“Thank you Saguru.” this time those deep blue eyes slid shut, “Goodnight.” Kuroba muttered.  
He returned the soft smile, “You're welcome Kaito, goodnight.”

── ♡♡♡♡ ──

The next morning Heiji got back from his early morning kendou practice to find the apartment still dark and silent.

That’s odd, usually the punctual blond would be up and about sipping his tea after his nutritionally balanced breakfast, while browsing the newspaper or going over a case file or class notes.

That’s right, the time obsessed nerd mentioned having a break to rest this weekend. But Heiji never thought he’d see the day Hakuba Saguru would sleep in. Not even a cold kept the prim detective from his morning routine.  
Well this just meant that Hakuba would have plenty of time to grumble at him and go back to catching up on sleep, it was the perfect opportunity to prank him. Even if he had plenty of opportunities in the past, before leaving for his morning practices, Heiji was also a famous detective and knew what it was like to be tired from working cases afterall, he wasn’t a total jerk despite what seemed to be Hakuba’s first impression of him.

Snickering, the Osakan pulled out his smartphone to start recording as he approached his roommates’ bedroom. Flinging open the door, he gave a shout of “OI HAKUBA!” pausing to snicker, “Wake up sleepy head!!”

But Heiji was surprised to find Hakuba’s bed empty, instead he turned, looking over to see the blond lying asleep in Kuroba’s bed as said owner raised his head of messy hair to grumble, “Hattori? What the hell man?”  
The detective of the west didn’t miss the way their hands were holding each other.  
Heiji didn’t bother responding except for an “oooohhhhh!!” as he booked it out of there while grinning at the still filming camera.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo shout out and a big thank you to [Onnoff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onnoff) for reminding me that [this vine](https://youtu.be/6Sj7tlZ570w) exists  
> I don't believe I would have thought to add that bonus scene otherwise


	5. Picture Perfect Pose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> word count: 651 || Kudou & Kuroba || humour

Shinichi was returning to the apartment to grab some files from his room before stopping by the police station. As he approached the front door he absently noted how the blinds in the main room windows were fully drawn, allowing the bright midday sunlight to pour inside. 

It was probably Hakuba making use of natural lighting for his painting agai—  
Shinichi paused in front of the window, one arm raised with key in hand toward the door he was about to open. That wasn’t Hakuba painting.

To be honest, this was one of the less surprising things he had walked in on.  
Kuroba was laying on his back across the top of the breakfast bar that separates the open kitchen from the main room. There was a black cloth draped off the end of the counter with Kuroba hanging his head in front of it, facing the camera and tripod that was unconventionally set up. The tripod was balanced off the edge of the kitchen table with the help of a popcorn tin and book.  
After a couple seconds of laying there, Kuroba hopped off the counter and went to presumably take a look at what he captured. It must not have been up to his standards if the small frown was anything to go by. The magician then pressed the shutter and vaulted back onto the counter, laying back into position as the camera’s timer counted down. But this time after the photo was taken, rather than immediately jumping off Kuroba looked towards Shinichi for a moment before giving him a huge grin. He could hear the laugh in his mind through the glass just by shape of Kuroba’s mouth and slight shake of his chest and shoulders.  
Shinichi shook his head, it was just another one of Kuroba’s creative photography projects.

─ ♤♤♤♤ ─

The next set up he came back to after the short trip to the station, was just as creative. A couple of the kitchen chairs were set up to balance the tripod at just the right angle for the camera to be in the perfect position for Kuroba’s headshots lying on a fluffy white area rug with his head surrounded by oranges.  
An excited smile beamed up at him, “Welcome back Kudou! Perfect timing as usual, could I ask you to kindly press the shutter button for me a few times. The timer won’t cut it this time.” Shinichi could see why, the oranges and Kuroba’s hair were artfully arranged around his head in a whimsical way, that set up would take a bit longer than the timer allowed.

Shrugging, the detective walked over to the camera, “Sure, you ready?”

─ ♤♤♤♤ ─

The third and hopefully the weirdest thing he would find Kuroba doing, was when Shinichi stepped out of his and Hattori’s shared bathroom wearing a fresh outfit consisting of a soft grey cotton shirt and some snug black sweatpants, only to glance across the hallway to find the door open and Kuroba standing in front of the mirror of the bathroom he shared with Hakuba...with skittles stuck on his face.  
Azure eyes blinked a couple times in surprise as the detective’s hands paused in their motion of toweling off his hair still wet from the shower. Kuroba didn’t take long to notice Shinichi standing there, sending a sidelong glance as he paused in gluing the green skittle he currently held, to his face. A grin broke the magician’s face of concentration as he grabbed the bag of skittles laying on the bathroom counter, holding them out towards the detective, “Want some?”  
“Umm. No thank you, I’m good.”  
The grin morphed into a playful smirk, “Or~ would you rather lick them off my face?” Kuroba purred with a wink.

Shinichi could only send a deadpan look before he resumed drying his hair as the light sound of mirthful snickers filled the hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how I mentioned "most of the weird stuff Kaito is found doing is the crap my roommates had to deal with"  
> I wasn't kidding, this is basically what happened, (with details changed to fit these characters of course) because apparently I don't know how to use a tripod conventionally to achieve the right angles for the creative stuff I want to make. Also the breakfast bar was right there and perfect for laying across for the hair angle I wanted


	6. Another Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> word count: 2631 || Kuroba & Kudou, Kuroba & Hakuba || angst & comfort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one started out as another sagukai comfort thing but I decided to have it take place in my College AU and added some Kudou (and like one brief mention of Hattori) bonding.

── ♧♧♧♧ ──

It was hot. Much too hot. And it only grew more intense. The flames continued to grow as he sat there. The scorching heat began suffocating him as it burned his lungs with every shuddering breath he took. The flames had fully surrounded him now. He had maybe minutes left before they closed the distance left between him and the flames.  
But none of that mattered. Hakuba was right there in front of him. Hakuba was lying right there in front of him. Hakuba was lying right there in front of him and bleeding. Hakuba was bleeding out fast. Hakuba was bleeding out as Kaito desperately pressed his hands against the wound in Hakuba’s stomach.  
But it was useless. Kaito was helpless as Hakuba’s pained breathing grew shallower. Kaito was helpless as he watched those amber eyes once so full of sharp wit and challenge and determination and amusement and, and all the things he’d come to love, lose the last of their light. Kaito was helpless as Saguru went completely still underneath his hands. Kaito felt his own body grow numb despite all the heat, despite all the physical pain surrounding him, despite the flames that reached out to him, as the mental anguish became the only thing he could feel. Kaito screamed.

─ ♧♧♧♧ ─

Kaito jolted awake as a choked sob left his mouth. He quickly sat up and looked to the bed across the room from his. It was empty.  
His heavy breathing hitched as he nearly started to panic before recalling that Hakuba should be safe in London right now. That’s right, he’s attending his cousin’s wedding for the weekend. Kaito closed his eyes as he took deep breaths. It’s alright. It was just a nightmare. Hakuba is safe. Just a bad dream. Hakuba is safe. It wasn’t real. Saguru is safe.

He opened his eyes at the sudden sound of a soft knocking at the door, “Kuroba? Are you alright?” it was Kudou’s voice. It took him a few seconds to manage an answer just loud enough to be heard as he wiped at the tears on his face, “Yeah. I’m, alright”  
A couple seconds later Kudou replied, “Can I come in?” Then added a second after that, “Please?”

Kaito wanted to immediately deny the request, to send his concerned roommate away and insist he was fine.  
But then, Aoko and Hakuba would be disappointed in him. Aoko learned early on that he sometimes had nightmares after his father’s death and had been insistent that he talk to others about it. And so he finally opened up to her about them when he was ready. But when he took up the mantle of KID, his nightmares also changed and he could no longer bring himself to share with Aoko. So he pretended like he had finally gotten over his nightmares and that was that.  
Until he met Hakuba.

── ♧♧♧♧ ──

The first time Hakuba discovered Kaito had nightmares was one day during lunch back in high school when Kaito heard Aoko mention to Keiko the dream she had last night. “Ahh it was scary Keiko!”  
Kaito looked up from his bento, “Haa? you had a nightmare and didn’t tell me about it?” Aoko turned towards Kaito with an embarrassment, “Ah well, I didn’t want to bother you”  
This only caused Kaito to send her an annoyed frown, “You always made me talk about my nightmares with you. Why didn’t you tell me about yours?”  
She tried to wave it off with her hand, “Because it wasn’t really a nightmare, more of a small bad dream, just the usual that everyone gets on occasion.” She shoved another bite of her food in her mouth, mumbling, “Not like the real nightmares you had.”  
This is when Akako decided to join the conversation, “Hmm? Did they perhaps have to do with Kuroba-kun’s unusual fear of certain water dwelling creatures?”  
Aoko sent Akako a pleading look, “Not exactly, just please forget Aoko said anything about it”  
Kaito sighed, “I’m not a child anymore, it’s okay to say I had nightmares about my dad after he died.” He shrugged, “But that was when I was younger, I haven’t had one for a couple years so I’m fine now, really.”  
Hakuba, who had been quietly observing the conversation, suddenly raised an eyebrow at that statement. It was that look he gave him when he didn’t quite believe what Kaito had told him, usually when they danced around the topic of KID. Whatever, let Hakuba think what he wants, they all returned to idle chatter as they finished their lunch.  
Although Kaito couldn’t stop thinking about those glances Hakuba kept giving him. They had almost seemed... worried? But that can’t be, the detective must have just been annoyed from trying to figure out his secrets.  
Well too bad because he planned to keep his secrets.

─ ♧♧♧♧ ─

The next time the nightmares were brought up was, ironically, after the dark knight heist. Hakuba quietly confronted him at the shoe lockers, “You had another nightmare didn’t you.” Kaito stared back at him with boredom, “What?”  
“I saw the article as I’m sure you have too, given your habit of reading up on KID’s heists, the part about Jack Connery being found dead in the warehouse leaving his only son. I thought that seeing such an unfortunate thing, might bring up some painful memories. I’m here if you need to talk.”  
Just reading some article that barely mentioned the death wouldn’t normally be enough to make someone have nightmares. Only seeing it happen in person would really have an effect. But Hakuba was smart, he probably knew that. And he could have brought it up in a way that would implicate Kaito was KID, but he didn’t. He had given Kaito a way to talk about his nightmare without confessing to being KID. And if Hakuba let go an opportunity to prove he’s KID, then he must be serious about wanting to help.  
As easy as it would be to think of Hakuba as an annoying jerk, he’d come to learn, the guy was actually pretty kind in his own dorky gentleman way.  
Since at this point Kaito wasn’t close enough to Hakuba to be ready to admit to the whole truth, he gratefully accepted the offer and visited Hakuba’s house, or rather mansion, for the first time to have some tea and chat.  
It wasn’t some big reveal or dramatic outburst.This interaction lacked their usual rivalry and was simply a quiet understanding between two people who had more in common than they liked to admit at first.

From there the friendship grew until he eventually admitted to the detective that his theory of KID’s identity was correct. Then he was finally able to share with someone the entirety of his nightmares. Even though his mom and Jii-chan knew about KID, he could never bring himself to also bother them with his nightmares when they were already worried enough about his safety. But with Hakuba he finally could and had ever since.  
Sometimes things didn’t work out how Kaito planned them, and he discovered, he was okay with that.

── ♧♧♧♧ ──

He could avoid Aoko finding out about his nightmare but Hakuba would know as soon as he returned. Kaito had no idea how he was always able to figure out when he had a nightmare. It was probably those stupidly sharp detective skills of his.

“Kuroba?” the soft inquiry broke Kaito out of the thoughts that were flashing through his mind.  
“Yes, you can come in.” He finally decided as he reached over to turn on the lamp sitting on the small chest of drawers next to his bed.  
The door slowly opened and Kudou stepped in, softly approaching his bed, “I heard you make a sound. Was it a nightmare?”  
Had he been loud enough to wake Kudou? The guilt must have shown on his face as Kudou was quick to add, “Ahh you didn’t wake me, I was still up, sitting in the main room, looking over a case file.”  
Oh good. “Uh yeah it was another nightmare.”  
“Another? Do you have them often?” It seems hardly anything can escape their keen attention to detail, annoyingly observant detectives.  
Kaito inwardly cringed at the slip up, “Not often just recurring. But it’s not that bad I usually have Hakuba to─” he cut himself off with a small gasp as he glanced towards the empty bed and recalled the horrible images of Hakuba─  
“I see.” Kudou nodded then gestured toward the end of his bed, “May I sit here?”  
Kaito felt himself slowly nod and give a hum of affirmation.  
“Since Hakuba isn’t here at the moment, will you talk to me about it?”  
Kuroba thought about the offer. He could talk to Kudou about this one since it didn’t specifically have to do with his time as a certain moon lit thief. But he’s never shared his nightmares with someone who wasn’t Aoko or Hakuba.  
While Kaito hesitated, Kudou calmly looked at his hands slowly curling and uncurling in his lap as he spoke, “You know, being a homicide detective, I’ve come across some upsetting things. And you’ve probably heard the rumours about my temporary leave from the public eye and a criminal syndicate I help get arrested. Well those rumours are true. I had an unfortunate encounter with some nasty criminals and luckily survived. But I had to go under the radar until I could track them down and figure out a plan to fight them. That situation left me a little paranoid. I sometimes have nightmares about those criminals hurting my family and friends, or about the cases where there were people I couldn’t save.” And so Kudou told him the story about a doctor, a fire, and Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.

By the time Kudou finished the sad story, Kaito felt ready to share one of his own, with a few details omitted of course, about a young boy who loved and lost his father in a fire and how a brave detective from london, who sometimes seemed to lack a sense of self preservation, became a close friend.  
By the time Kaito was finished telling the story and the nightmare that followed, he felt much calmer. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

“Thank you. I feel better now.”  
Kudou nodded, “No problem.” and slipped off the bed, to stand in front of him, “You should call him.”  
“Huh?”  
“You should call Hakuba. It’s currently about 19:00 in London so he’ll still be awake and the reception should have died down by now so he shouldn’t have any trouble getting away to talk to you. Not that it would be a problem for him if it’s you calling.”  
“Okay, I think I’ll do that.”  
Kudou gave a quick nod, “Good.” He turned and walked towards the door, pausing with it halfway opened as he looked back with a small smile, “Goodnight Kuroba.” Kaito returned the smile, “Goodnight Kudou.”  
Then the door softly shut behind him.

He pressed the call button and only had to wait for one ring before it was answered, “Kuroba-kun? Isn’t it about three in the morning in Japan? Why are you still up? Don’t you usually like to hold a magic show for the children at the park on Sunday mornings?”  
Upon hearing that voice, he couldn’t help the way the next word quietly fell out of his mouth, “Saguru...” he could hear the short intake of breath on the other end of the line, “Kaito! Are you alright? Where are you?” Kaito let out a small huff of a laugh regaining some composure at the adorable sound of Hakuba’s worry, “Don’t worry Haku-san, I’m alright, still at the apartment. It was, it was just…”  
Hakuba sighed in relief, “A nightmare. Please tell me about it.”  
Kaito paused. This was the first time he had dream so vividly about Hakuba dying. Before, if he dreamt about Hakuba, it had been with the rest of his friends and family dying. And there hadn’t been the explicit blood or suffering on their faces, just the sound of gunshots, sometimes their screams, and the flash of flames before they were gone.  
On the phone Hakuba simply waited patiently for Kaito to begin speaking when he was ready. His steady breathing help Kaito gather his thoughts.  
His voice was soft and slow when he began, “It was you” he swallowed in an attempt to push down the growing anxiety of recalling the nightmare, “It was worse than any nightmare I’ve had before. It, it was so vivid…” he paused, hesitant to continue due to the fear that saying it out loud might make it come true or something. Hakuba seemed to understand because he was a great friend like that, calmly speaking in a soothing voice, “It’s alright Kuroba, I’m here and safe. Remember to breath, deep slow breaths.” Kaito’s breath hitched at that, he hadn’t realised he had started to take quick shallow breaths. He closed his eyes focusing on the sound of Hakuba’s breathing example through the speaker before he continued, “You were shot and bleeding out right in front of me.” They were okay. “I was helpless to do anything as the world around us went up in flames and smoke.” He let out a shuddering breath having said it out loud.  
Hakuba replied in a gentle voice, “It’s okay Kaito. I’m safe.”  
Kaito hummed in response, “I feel better being able to talk to you Saguru.”  
“I’m sorry I’m not physically at your side right now. Would you like me to call Hattori? I know he wouldn’t mind being woken for a friend and wouldn’t think twice about being there for them.” The blond gave a soft chuckle, “He’s fiercely loyal like that.”  
Kaito shook his head, “No need, Kudou happen to be awake and already checked on me when he heard me waking up. He helped to calm me and suggested I call you before going back to sleep. Which is definitely helping, it’s comforting to hear your steady breathing and voice.”  
Kaito could hear the warm smile in his voice, “I’m glad Kuroba.” Hakuba’s tone then took on what Kaito liked to call his ‘posh polite’ voice “Well now that you are calmer, I must tell you all about the interesting family matters that are bound to make an appearance at gatherings such as these, Kuro-san.”  
He perked up at the promise of juicy gossip, “Please do share, don’t keep me waiting, Haku-san.”  
Hakuba whispered conspiratorially, “Do you know what I heard a bridesmaid say to a waiter?”  
The brunet giggled at the reference to one of their favourite songs, “Let me guess, the poor groom's bride is a whore?”  
“Indeed! I was so close to marching right up to her and giving the wench a piece of my mind. How dare she speak ill of my cousin…”  
Kaito contentedly listened, making a humming sound at the appropriate parts as Hakuba continued his rant and retellings of wedding and family gossip as his eyes slid shut and he drifted off to sleep.

─ ♢♢♢♢ ─

Saguru paused in his story as Kuroba hadn’t made a sound for a while now. He heard the deep and consistent breathing indicative of sleep and smiled to himself as he whispered, “Goodnight Kaito”

── ♧♧♧♧ ──

That morning after his usual little Sunday magic show he liked to perform for the children, a delivery person approached Kaito with a small bouquet of yellow roses and a single purple cosmos. “Flower delivery for the magician Kuro-san, from Haku-san” The magician gratefully accepted the pretty flowers, smiling at them and the yellow roses’ meaning of close friendship with the cosmos’ thoughts of peace and deep caring, meant to soothe anxiety.


	7. A Punny Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> word count: 168 || KID & Conan || humour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A random moment from when KID and Conan were still active.  
> I’m just adding this into my College Roommates AU since it’s easy enough to put in many universes so I figured, might as well throw this here.
> 
> I saw some merch, I love puns, and so I wrote this silly lil scene.

KID for once, looked serious, which caught Conan off guard since he had expected to see the thief's usual infuriating smirk. It took the little detective a moment to realise that the usually shrouded eyes were suddenly visible as their owner crouched to his level. Conan could only stare at the deep blue before him as gloved hands reached for the small hands half their size.  
“Tantei-kun.”  
Conan suddenly felt more like the age he appeared as he found himself eagerly listening and maybe even a little excited to hear what surprise the magician had in store for him this time.  
“A gift for you.” An object was pressed into his hand, “Did you know?”  
The boy curiously looked at the object given to him.  
“I’m a fan of yours”  
It was a white handheld fan with the stupid KID signature grinning back at him.  
In the next moment a soccer ball was flying towards the laughing magician as he escaped, sailing among the waves of the moonlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> based on this [merch](https://twitter.com/mkonan_goods/status/1108951487286108163?s=20)


End file.
